I gazed up at Dean's chiselled face with furrowed brows, slowly shaking my head.

"What?" I wheezed out, hissing at the pain in my ribs, causing Dean to look down at me worryingly, quickening his pace.

"Try not to move," he grunted, tightening his grip on me as he started to jog through the forest, eventually reaching the treeline of Dylan's territory, causing me to sigh in relief, knowing I could sleep and allow my broken ribs to heal overnight.

As we approached Dylan's house, I silently prayed that he wouldn't be home yet, so he wouldn't have to see me in such a state.

Dean pushed the door open with the force of his back, and I looked down to see no sign of Dylan's shoes, hoping that he was running late.

"Hello?" called Dean loudly, and raising his eyebrows at me when he got no reply.

Dean sauntered into the kitchen, plopping me down gently on the kitchen counter, and rummaging through the cabinets until he came across a first aid box.

"Let me do it," I coughed as I attempted to reach across the counter, noticing my sudden movement had caused my gash to pulsate; more blood trickling down my neck and soaking Dean's shirt.

Dean rolled his eyes, propping me back up gently as he soaked up the blood best he could using a antiseptic wipe, causing me to hiss.

"Don't be a baby," he muttered as he held down the wipe harshly on the wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

"Can you please not tell Dylan about this? I don't need him worrying about me, and he says that it's dangerous to go in the forest alone."

Dean's dark grey eyes flashed to mine slightly as he chewed on him bottom lip, humming in agreement. "It is dangerous. You could have been killed."

"Seriously Dean, please don't tell him. I just wasn't paying attention to where I was. I don't want him babying me," I pleaded quietly, crossing my arms in annoyance that a rogue happened to show up just when I was out on a run.

Dean shrugged, shaking his head. "I won't have to, he'll just know."

I growled in pain as Dean released the pressure on the wound, studying it carefully before applying a large band aid to it, smoothing out the edges of it quickly.

"I thought you and Dylan hated each other," I muttered as I leaned back against the cabinets, watching Dean as he carefully washed his hands, scrubbing in between his fingers in an attempt to wash off all of my blood.

"We do," he replied, drying his hands and leaning up against the counter opposite me.

I furrowed my brows, shaking my head. "Well then why did he ask you to look after me? Why didn't he just ask one of the warriors?"

"Because he knows I'm deadlier," chuckled Dean, crossing his huge arms over his tanned muscular chest, a smirk playing at the corner of his lips.

I glared at him, sighing as I ran my hands through my long brunette hair. "Surely he doesn't trust you around women after seeing what you are like with people's mates?" I said bitterly, my voice laced with irritation.

"Maybe not, but he trusts you," Dean replied, shrugging his shoulders.

I shook my head, fiddling with my fingers in order to keep calm, attempting to distract myself. "You shouldn't have kissed Amelia; she's my brother's mate.

Dean looked at me awkwardly, his tongue exploring his mouth as he ran it along the front of his teeth, shaking his head. "I didn't know she was his mate, alright?"

"Well, you spoke to him like crap."

Dean ignored me, packing up the first aid kit and setting it back where it came from, causing me to huff.

"You should apologise to my brother," I said bluntly, causing Dean to raise his eyebrows at me.

"Not going to happen, sweetheart."

"Well you should at least-"

"Look," said Dean, holding his hands up defensively, "I won't touch Amelia again. I promise. Can we drop it?"

Dean and I stared at each other for a few seconds, before I jumped off the counter, ignoring the searing feeling spreading throughout my ribs. I made it a few steps, before the agony became too much, and I gripped onto the fridge, holding my self up as Dean made his way over to me, hoisting me up into his arms.

"Where's the bedroom?" he asked as he made his way up the stairs, nodding after I pointed to the left, hearing him push the door open. I suddenly felt the soft velvet of Dylan's sheets under me, being careful not to get any blood on them.

"Thanks," I said quietly as I looked up at Dean who rummaging through Dylan's wardrobe, eventually nodding to himself once he found what he was looking for.

"You're going to get blood everywhere," said Dean as he threw one of Dylan's large black shirts over to me.

"Well I'm not changing here in front of you," I huffed, causing Dean to chuckle, raising his brows.

"Did I ask you to?" he questioned, crossing his arms across his chest.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, furrowing my brows.

"Well, Dylan's not here right now, so I'm-"

"No," I said, shaking my head, "I mean here, as in here at Dylan's pack? Why have you come back?"

Dean looked down, chewing the inside of his cheek, before looking back up at me and shrugging, his eyes holding vulnerability for a split second, before dissipating; his dark grey eyes becoming emotionless and sullen once again.

"Maybe I'm tired of being a lone wolf."

....................

Dylan had returned more than a couple hours late that night, which I was more than grateful for. Before he had arrived, Dean had helped me to the bathroom, where I scrubbed myself clean of all the blood and dirt, being careful not to twist and turn too much; my ribs still throbbing.

I had asked Dean to leave once he had helped me, not wanting him to stick around while I washed myself. He left without a word, nodding at me as a quick 'goodbye' before exiting.

I had waited for Dylan to return, jumping into bed when he finally did, making sure my long hair was covering my bandaged up neck, and pretending to be sound asleep when he quietly entered the room, kissing me on the forehead gently before settling down to sleep.

My eyes fluttered open, and I rubbed them softly as I groaned, rolling over, feeling a slight aching feeling in my ribs, but smiling to myself, knowing they had healed nicely overnight, and all that would be remaining were a few bruises at worst.

"Morning beautiful," muttered Dylan from above me, causing me to gasp, sitting up and pulling my hair forward quickly, so as to cover my neck which would now also be completely healed.

"Oh hi, I didn't hear you come in last night," I lied, my wolf growling at me for deceiving our mate, but I didn't want him to worry, and I certainly didn't want him thinking that he had to stay here to look after me instead of training the warriors.

"Yeah, you were passed out," chuckled my mate, whipping off his towel that was securely wrapped around his waist, leaving him standing in front of me butt naked, causing me to blush.

Dylan gazed at me through the doorway of the bathroom, leaning forward and holding onto the top of it, his large biceps on show, causing my arousal to grow immensely.

"I've got a training session this morning, but then for the rest of the day, I'm all yours," said Dylan, winking at me, making his way over to his wardrobe and throwing on some clothes.

"I should probably head home today, I need to see how Jared is doing and I miss Gia," I replied, stepping out of the bed and making my way into the bathroom, shutting the door quickly and facing the mirror, ripping off my band aid, sighing in relief once I saw that my neck was now completely healed. I threw the band aid in the bathroom trash can, hiding it down at the bottom underneath all the other trash, making my way out of the bathroom to see my mate looking at me with raised eyebrows.

"What were you doing?" questioned Dylan, chuckling to himself.

"Oh, nothing, just checking for wrinkles," I laughed, causing my mate to shake his head, nodding slowly, his mouth turning down into a frown.

"I know you hurt yourself last night, Clara. I don't like it when you lie to me."

Dylan's voice was low and husky, causing me to stop breathing for a few seconds, my hands starting to sweat. I nodded, sighing, knowing that it was stupid of me to think that my mate wouldn't realise. "Um, yeah, I'm sorry. I didn't realise how far I had run until it was too late."

Dylan nodded slowly, scratching at his stubble. "It's dangerous out there. You need to be more careful. I don't want anything happening to you. All it takes is a split second of not paying attention and you could be dead."

"I know. I'm sorry. I won't do it again," I replied, causing my mate to sigh heavily, nodding, the anger slowly disappearing from his eyes.

"Okay, well, I'll be finishing my training session in about an hour or two, so I'll come and get you and we can head back to yours together," suggested Dylan, raising his brows, waiting for an answer, dropping the subject pretty quickly, surprising me.

I looked up at my mate, chewing on the inside of my cheek nervously, fiddling with my fingers. "Or, Dean could take me. I assume he'll be watching over me again today?"

Dylan's eyes widened, and he stared at me, his mouth parted slightly. "How do you know about that?"

"I just know," I replied, crossing my arms over my chest.

"I thought you hated him, and now you're getting him to babysit me?" I questioned, shaking my head in confusion.

"How do you know? I told him not to say anything," growled Dylan

"Dylan, all I've heard from you are bad things about him. All I want to know is why you trust him to watch over me."

"He saved you last night. Surely that's reason enough."

"I know, but you still seem like you don't trust him. I saw the photos, Dylan. I saw how close you two were when you were younger. What happened to make you both hate each other so much?"

I watched in sadness and anger as Dylan turned his back on me, making his way down the stairs, slamming the front door behind him, leaving me standing in the bedroom confused and alone.

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